Round and Round (Closed)

Snowblossom enjoyed walking by the river- really, it was one of the few things she enjoyed these days. That, and spending time with her family. But since her family was determined to continue shrinking, the mother wondered... How long until she left as well? Leaving her children wasn't something she was eager to do, but she knew that she was getting old. That, she knew. Lakewhisper's absence had taken its toll on her, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could bear it. She had three daughters left- Meadowpaw, still stuck in apprenticehood due to injuries and illness; Coldgaze, never friendly and always distant; and Flurryshine. Oh, how she loved her eldest daughter. The growth she had gone through was absolutely amazing, and Snowblossom grew more proud of her whenever they spoke. But she'd had her own share of problems, as well.

Musing on her life, strolling the same path she always did by the river, the aging warrior hardly noticed the crumbling bank beside her. Erosion had done its job, and a single push of pressure was liable to make a whole section of dirt fall down. Unfortunately, the she-cat didn't notice in time, and with one misstep she plummeted down towards the water, raging from leaf-bare's extra rain and snowmelt. No problem for a RiverClan cat... right? But Snowblossom's extra heavy winter coat weighed her down, and combined with her surprise and her age, the she-cat just couldn't seem to find her footing in the water. So she found herself swept under its freezing depths, bobbing up and down, unable to find the surface. Where had it gone? Which way was up? Where was air? Her lungs clenched from the need to breathe, and panic began to bubble up inside her. She was a RiverClan cat! She wasn't supposed to die like this!

Flurryshine heard the splash of water near the river while she was busy sniffing around for some land prey. Curious, she raced up to the riverbank just in time to see the tail-end of Snowblossom's struggling body before she sunk into the darkness of the river. "No, Snowblossom!" she shrieked, leaping into the water and immediately paddling as hard as she could to reach her drowning mother. Even after all these years, after all the attention and care Dewshine had given her to teach her how to keep yer eyes open underwater, the water still stung her vibrant green eyes as she sought out the white pelt of her mother. But she was determined to keep them open so she could find and rescue her!

After what seemed like ages, she finally reached Snowblossom's body when it was just about to hit the riverbed floor, pushing up hard on the pebbled ground with her hind paws, clasping Snowblossom's scruff tightly in her jaws. It was almost too difficult to swim back up to the surface with the extra weight, and her lungs were screaming at her to abandon her mother and reach the surface for air. But she would rather drown than let her mother die willingly!

Just when she felt like her lungs were about to burst, her head broke free into the open air and she struggled to catch and regulate her breath through her nose, coughing and choking behind Snowblossom's scruff as water was sucked in through her nostrils. Shutting her eyes tightly to bear through the discomfort, her muscles strained to their limit, she still paddled as fiercely as she could back to shore. Only once she dragged Snowblossom completely onto dry land as far away from the river as possible did she let go to cough and hack up water, gasping for air she had denied her lungs of for so long.

Soaking wet, breathless, and weak, Flurryshine collapsed next to Snowblossom and shook her vigorously. "Sn-Snowb-blossom!... P-Please wake up!... Y-You're safe now, I promise!... P-Please..."

It was dark. It was cold. She was tired. Snowblossom had finally resigned herself to death when she felt sharp teeth digging into her scruff, pulling her upwards. In the dim, foggy recesses of her mind, she registered that someone was attempting to save her. Through some miracle, she ended up lying on the riverbank, completely soaked, coughing up water endlessly. But the chill in her lungs remained, and weakness was taking over. She was dying, and she knew it.

Confused at who had rescued her, the dying warrior looked up to see... Flurryshine. Was that really her? Or was it a pre-death hallucination? The she-cat's vision was blurry, but a face materialized before her... Her daughter, identical green eyes swimming with tears. Snowblossom found that her own eyes were wet- and not just from almost drowning. "Flurryshine...." she whispered weakly, making a great effort to speak. "I'm sorry... I didn't want to... go like this. Please-" she interrupted herself by coughing up more water, spilling its briny, fishy taste onto the ground before her. Then she continued. "Please tell...your sisters that... I love them.... And I love you." Breathing was becoming increasingly difficult, and she could feel her heart struggling to pump blood through all the river water flooding her system. "I will... Miss you..." Her paw stretched out, agonizingly slow, resting atop Flurryshine's. "... Always."

The light in Snowblossom's dark green eyes went out, leaving a cold, waterlogged white body laying before one of the kits that shared its genes. A spirit ascended to the stars, with one last downward look of regret. Oh, Flurryshine... I will miss you.

"No... No, Snowblossom, no!... No, no, please, you can't die! Oh, Snowblossom, I need you! I need you so bad! Please don't die! Mama, please don't die!" No matter how desperately she begged her mother to hang on, Flurryshine knew it was already too late. She had been underwater for far too long. She hadn't been fast enough. She failed her mother. Just like she had failed her apprentice, her first mate, her kits...

Curling around her deceased mother tightly, Flurryshine lifted her head to release a low caterwaul of utter distraught, tears falling down her cheeks and mingling with the river water that still clung heavily to her fur.